Sky-Riding Bus (Nov, 1950)

TWIN BUSSES that glide high through the air will carry sightseers and skiers up the slopes of Mount Hood in Oregon during this year’s winter sports season. The 36-passenger busses literally wind themselves along their cables, completing a trip of more than three miles in less than 10 minutes. Said to be the longest aerial passenger lift in the world, the tramway whisks skiers from the 3800-foot level to Timberline Lodge at 6000 feet. The cables are supported by 38 A-shaped steel towers up to 72 feet tall. The traction cables wind around power pulleys on the car which are rotated by two 185-horsepower engines
to carry the coaches up the mountain.

First, it is spelled ‘buses,’ not busses (those are kisses), check it out, any dictionary.
And second, doesn’t the whole idea of putting the motor in the gondola seem weird? Why add to the weight and get MUCH less power than you would with a ground-based system like every other lift system in the world.
And what exactly does the driver do? Watch out for pedestrians?